Sales Taxes under Pressure to Rise

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 19, 2009 at 9:58 AM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Most San Diego residents pay between 7% and 8% in sales tax, but pressure on state and local budgets could boost that to over 10%. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Most San Diego residents pay between 7% and 8% in sales tax, but pressure on state and local budgets could boost that to over 10%. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Cities around San Diego County have mostly kept sales taxes in the 7% range. But 4 cities: Vista, El Cajon, National City and Las Mesa, have recently raised theirs to over 8%. Tonight, Chula Vista is the next in line to decide whether to put a sales tax hike on the ballot.

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Chula Vista Mayor Cheryll Cox says the city has cut its budget by almost 30% already over the last two years.

COX: " You can cut and cut and cut, leaving vital services as in tact as you can, but then sooner rather than later even those vital services begin to show shreds of wear."

Chula Vista, like the city of San Diego, currently has a 7 3/4% sales tax. A full percentage point increase could bring that to nearly 9%.

Meanwhile, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a sales tax hike of 1.5% . If that goes through, many Californians are looking at paying more than 10% on purchases in the not too distant future.

Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.